Wehby has defended her support
for a bill sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., that included a health
insurance exchange and an individual mandate to buy insurance, two elements of
Obamacare frequently criticized by Republicans.
She says Wyden's plan was bipartisan, more market-friendly and didn't
add to the federal debt.

Both say they want to keep
some Obama health care reforms, most notably finding some way to allow people
with preexisting conditions to obtain affordable insurance.

That's hard to do without
figuring out how to avoid encouraging consumers to avoid getting insurance – or
at least comprehensive insurance – until they get sick. Obamacare's solution
was an individual mandate and minimum requirements for what has to be in an
insurance plan.

Conger says he would deal
with the problem by allowing states to set up insurance pools that would cover
high-risk patients.

"There has to be a way for
people with preexisting conditions who are not in a group to obtain
insurance," he says.

ALSO ON THE REPUBLICAN BALLOT

Besides Monica Wehby and Jason Conger, here are the other Republican candidates for U.S. Senate:

MARK CALLAHAN

Position: Information technology consultant in Salem.

Biography: Callahan, 36, has unsuccessfully sought county commission, legislative and school board seats – and he sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

On the issues: He wants to repeal Obamacare; strictly enforce immigration laws, establish a flat income tax, vote down free-trade pacts, and turn over federal lands to local jurisdictions and private landowners.

Quote: “We need new voices in Washington D.C. who will fight for our future and put an end to the government encroachment in our lives.”

TIM CRAWLEY

Position: Attorney in Portland.

Biography: Crawley, 31, grew up in Oregon and went to school out of state and practiced law in the Bay Area before returning to Oregon a year and a half ago. This is his first run for public office.

On the issues: Wants to reshape the federal health care law, reform immigration law and embed tax reform in the Constitution. He also supports same-sex marriage and legalized marijuana.

Quote: “The People will overcome the shackles of the political elite and bury, in finality, the oppression of a political system centralized by the largest corporate and banking interests.”

JO RAE PERKINS

Position: Former financial planner in Albany.

Biography: Perkins, 57, is a former chair of the Linn County Republican Party and has run unsuccessfully for mayor and city council in Albany.

On the issues: Calls for repeal of Obamacare and says people in country illegally should return to their home country. Wants to eliminate federal income tax in favor of consumption tax; calls for privatizing Social Security and Medicare.

Quote: “It is time to stop being politically correct and start being politically honest.”

Wehby also talks favorably of
high-risk pools, subsidized either by state or federal governments.

She says she also wants to
give people more tax incentives to buy insurance, arguing that works better
than mandates.

One big point of difference:
Wehby talks up a Medicare plan proposed by the American Medical Association, of
which she was once a board member. The plan would allow doctors to individually
contract with Medicare patients to charge more than the Medicare fee schedule.

She says this would encourage
more doctors to see Medicare patients, giving them more health choices.

Conger is suspicious. "I see the flaw in it immediately," he says,
arguing it could price some less-affluent Medicare patients out of the market.

"You have this underclass of
poorer Medicare patients who have even less access, presumably, or at least
that's the risk," he says.

TAXES AND GOVERNMENT SPENDING

Both want to revamp the tax
code, although they have a different emphasis.

Conger says tax reform should
begin "with working and
middle-class family tax relief" and says he wants to eliminate special breaks
for the "well-connected."

Conger is
particularly disdainful of green-energy tax breaks, calling them a "phenomenal
waste of money."

Wehby says a "fairer,
flatter" tax code would spur economic growth.
In an interview with The Oregonian's editorial board, she honed in on lowering
the corporate tax rate – while also eliminating some tax breaks – to spur business
investment.

Wehby says Congress
needs to figure out how to trim the future costs of Social Security and
Medicare, the two big entitlement programs.
But she's vague on how.

"I can't give you
specifics," she says. "All options have to be on the table. ... For those of us
who are coming up, who are younger, we need to consider a different approach of
how to make these programs solvent."

Conger says while reform
of Social Security and Medicare is "a high priority," he thinks other areas
merit attention first.

"Like balancing the
federal budget, like putting people back to work in Oregon," he says as he
begins to tick off priorities.

Still, he says of
Social Security: "I think there is a very high probability that workers coming
into the system are going to be given a second level of benefits that is
lower."

Both speak
disdainfully of Sen. Jeff Merkley's proposal to raise Social Security benefits
and make them more secure by raising taxes on those earning more than $250,000
a year.

Conger says Merkley
is just pandering to elderly voters because "it's clearly something he knows
will go nowhere" in Congress.

IMMIGRATION

Conger and Wehby use similar
language. Both say they first want to secure the border – a standard talking point
for candidates, particularly Republicans.

They say they oppose
"amnesty," but they also say they want to make it easier for people to get
temporary work visas. nd they want to
find a way for otherwise law-abiding immigrants who are here illegally to get
legal status. Both also hold open the possibility that some could find a path
to citizenship.

Wehby also talked up
greater use of the government E-Verify program that tells employers whether a
job applicant is in the country legally.

SOCIAL ISSUES

Here's where Wehby
and Conger differ the most.

Conger says he
opposes abortion, except in cases of rape, incest and to save the mother's
life.

Wehby says it should
be a woman's choice – although she's also quick to emphasize that she's a
Catholic who is personally pro-life.

Wehby says she does
oppose federal funding for abortion, although she hasn't spelled out exactly
how that could affect her voting. For example, she says she wasn't familiar
with a 2011 House-passed bill that would have withheld some federal funds from medical
schools that provided abortion training – and doesn't have a position on
it.

The two are also
split on same-sex marriage. Conger opposes it, believing that Oregon's domestic
partnership law adequately protects gay couples.

Wehby has not
definitively endorsed aproposed initiative to overturn Oregon's ban on same-sex
marriage but says: "I don't have a problem with gay marriage. ... I
think it's not a government decision. I
think it's a personal decision."

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has his own somewhat more
restrictive O&C plan. Conger flatly says he would vote against it if the
Wyden plan came to the Senate floor. Wehby says she'd wait to see the final
form.

Both lean toward supporting free-trade pacts. But neither is
ready to commit on the upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership or on legislation –
known as Trade Promotion Authority – that would allow an up-or-down
congressional vote on any trade agreement approved by negotiators.